Hackers Access Taxpayer’s Information in IRS Breach

Hackers Access Taxpayer’s Information in IRS Breach

28
May
2015

It has been announced by the Internal Revenue Service that over 100,000 people’s information have been access through an unauthorised breach of security online. Hackers access taxpayer’s information in IRS breach, confirmed to be through on online system implemented by the IRS themselves. The ‘Get Transcript’, which allowed taxpayers access to a wealth of personal information including tax returns and other tax information that the IRS has on file. Before you can view this information, users have to input a number of security questions including date of birth, Social Security number, street address and tax filing status.

The hackers bypassed this security page and were able to access 100,000 taxpayers, with over 200,000 unauthorised attempts. The information these hackers accessed could be used to commit identity fraud and steal someones identity without them knowing, as the tax details include names, addresses, pension details and other personal information. The IRS has announced that they will be notifying those whose details were accessed by the hackers.

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